Just What WAS Charles Doing Behind Junes?
by JustCharles
Summary: A side story to Ari Moriarty's "Dreamgirl" Charles Waldo had seen Adachi behind Junes... But what was Charles doing there? And what does "Amagi" have to do with it? Find out within. Note: This is an AU of "I Don't Belong Here" set within the "Dreamgirl" universe.


**A/N: This was a fic that came about because I had allowed Ari Moriarty the use of Charles, my OC from "P4: I Don't Belong Here", whenever she chose. She chose to have him in a small cameo in "Dreamgirl: Chapter Eighty: Hunch" However, she had left vague what Charles was doing behind Junes when he saw Adachi, other than it involved... "Amagi" Then we discussed doing an expansion of that scene between Charles and Ari's OC Detective Cho Yanase. The fic before you is the end result. We hope you enjoy it. And thanks to Ari for letting me do this. **

"Mr. Waldo, Detective Yanase will see you now," the Desk Sergeant said.

"Domo," Charles replied. He wasn't nervous about himself. He wondered if this Detective Yanase would believe him.

_What the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here… Then he laughed to himself slightly. I didn't mean to do the song_, he thought ruefully.

As he walked through the detectives section he noticed two empty desks. One said "Detective N. Shirogane." The other said, "Detective C. Narukami."

He chuckled to himself. _Yu finally married Satonaka… interesting._

Then Charles felt a pang of sadness. _Yu probably doesn't even remember me… I know SHE doesn't and Satonaka doesn't either. Hell, I see Detective Dojima just look at me and he doesn't even recognize me._

_…_

_But then again it's not like his nephew and I actually hung out,_ he thought.

"Mr. Waldo," a young woman said to him. "Welcome, I'm Detective Yanase Cho,"

Charles bowed. "Detective, pleased to meet you!" he said. Then he shook her hand. To Charles's confusion she slightly blushed.

Then they both sat down. He sat across from her.

"You're here because you say you saw, as you told me over the phone, Adachi Tohru…the same one wanted for escaping from prison."

"Yes, Detective, that's correct."

"When did you see him?"

"After hours last Tuesday at Junes. I saw him hanging out there."

"Where at Junes?" Yanase asked

"In the back of the building, near the employee entrance," Charles replied.

"What was he doing there?" Yanase was writing down what Charles said.

"He had been hanging out for a few minutes. He didn't see me. Then he started walking. I don't know where he was going or why he was walking. But I knew it was him." Charles sounded confident

"What makes you think it WAS him?" Yanase asked.

"Because I recognized him from this photo from the news." To prove his point, he pulled out his cell and showed the detective a still of Adachi taken from Eye News from a court appearance Adachi had made a few months back.

"But you didn't take any photos yourself…?"

"I pulled out this selfsame phone, Detective Yanase, but once I looked up, he was gone… and the view I had of him…he couldn't have just walked faster. I would have still seen him unless he could run as fast as he did 10 years ago…"

Yanase paused at the remark, but decided to move on. "You also said that 2 days later you saw him in the Shopping District," She reminded him.

"Yes… Next to Daidara's. He was walking and I was about to take a picture and then he was gone again. But I'm not mistaken. It was him."

At this point, Yanase was looking at Charles and said tiredly, "So… you say you think you saw him in the Shopping District?"

_Shit, they must have gotten a LOT of false leads for her to let her exhaustion show… I don't blame her_, Charles thought. He noticed that Dojima was trying not to look at him. Charles felt uncomfortable, but he kept his voice confident. He had no doubts about Adachi. "I'm sure I saw him. I'm not making it up. He was hanging out behind Junes after hours. It was definitely him. I-!"

"Yes, Mr. Waldo, you've said," Yanase said with an impatient sigh. "But…may I ask what YOU were doing behind Junes after closing time?"

Charles was surprised at the question. Honestly, it was the timing of the question that really surprised him. He had expected Detective Yanase to ask earlier. It frustrated him to know that despite his interest in law-enforcement, and in how detectives ask questions, he could still let himself get caught off guard.

…

Maybe it was because he didn't want to be asked the question. How could Detective Yanase understand?

He noticed he had been sized up earlier by Dojima… and now Dojima was staring at him. Of course he would, Charles thought. The guy was HIS PARTNER. He would have a vested interest.

Still the question made Charles tongue-tied. He had gritted his teeth. "Um…."He said, trying to find the best words to use. Then he mumbled some more words, but the loudest was… "Amagi."

Charles saw Dojima shake his head.

Charles felt small… He was afraid he would lose credibility, if he hadn't already.

"I don't get it… Why the hell would he? It doesn't make any damn sense…" Charles heard this from another detective at the recently deceased Chief Taiga's desk. The news said it was suicide, but Charles had his doubts. He hoped that they could find something. Charles knew that Taiga had followed Ken Itomori as Chief of Detectives a few years back.

"Juro's hard at work again…" Yanase said quietly with a fond smile that also looked a little concerned. But then she turned back to Charles, and as she did so Dojima went over to that desk, much to Charles's relief.

"Now…what about Amagi?" Yanase said.

Charles, feeling a little more relaxed now that Dojima wasn't staring at him, said a little louder, "I was trying the best way to ask Amagi Yukiko out on a date."

"You seem like the confident type. You've answered my questions…except that one without wavering. Tell me, why is that one question so difficult for you to answer?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"This…is not my first time in Inaba. I was foreign exchange at Yasogami High in 2011-2012. Second Year. I went to school with Detective Dojima's nephew, and Detectives Shirogane and Narukami…" He said as if he was trying to slowly lift a great weight off his chest.

"I see… But what does this have to with…?" Yanase asked.

"My being behind Junes? I'll get to it… I'm… setting the stage," He ruefully chuckled. "I only know of them because of that year in class. I was in Class 2-3, where the Geography teacher, Mr. Yamada was my homeroom teacher. But everyday… I saw her… Yukiko. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. Her black hair looked so silky. Even with that red hairband. And that red cardigan sweater with the skirt and the black tights… she was a knockout."

Yanase just looked at him. She knew he had a point but let him get to it on his own pace.

"But I didn't have the courage to ask her out…for two reasons. One was…the Amagi Challenge. To see if she would date someone... which was bullshit. It was really a locker room created thing. The real challenge was to see who she would hop into bed with, and I didn't like her that way. I…was in love with her. And I wanted to treat her with respect."

"But you said there was a second reason…?"

"Actually, I take that back… there were three reasons. The second was that in my hometown in Utah, in the States, I was rejected several times…and I didn't want that again," Charles said, looking down.

He then deeply exhaled. "But the third was that I thought Detective Narukami's husband was dating her back then. And I knew I had no shot., because I heard about Yu and how awesome he was. He could have had any girl…and I knew he chose her. Whenever I happened to see her…he was always with her."

"But she didn't know who I was. I introduced myself…tried striking up a conversation with her a couple of times; once on the school Camping Trip and another time at a field trip to Gekkoukan High at Tatsumi Port Island. She still didn't remember me or recognize me the second time."

"I wanted her to notice me… but each time I tried something came up. One time was when your suspect was a Detective and he chased down a Risette stalker paparazzo. That's how I knew he could run fast back then. She ran past me and …actually knocked me down. I swear she said sorry absent-mindedly, but I've no proof."

"I mean…it hurt…every day to see this girl who you knew was the love of your life, and realize she was taken and even if she wasn't, you didn't even register to her. Not even when you voted for her in the Miss Yasogami Pageant." Charles looked down, his eyes misting up.

"I'm sure that in any other circumstance, this WOULD be interesting, but…" Yanase said, doing her best to be polite.

"…'Get to the point', right?" Charles said with a rueful chuckle. "After my year was up, I took a train ride to Tokyo with one Narukami Yu. We met for the first time and talked. He said that the love of his life was Chie, not Yukiko. Then when we discussed Yukiko and I mentioned I had a crush… he said that maybe I could have had a shot if I had taken a chance. But I don't know."

"I kept track of what went on here through the internet. It was easier to find stuff out about Kujikawa Rise and Detective Shirogane as they had more popularity. The others…not so much, since they flew under the internet's radar. Still, statements Rise made on her fan page, Facebook, and Twitter, were conducive in finding out about the others."

"But as time went on…I just lost interest. I had my own life to lead. I had a few failed relationships and made and lost a few friends as things happened and they had their own lives to live."

"Then, out of the blue…I saw her in Salt Lake City. It was a couple months ago. I was working as a desk clerk at the Marriott. She was touring the hotel…I think to get the sense of what she could use to improve the business practices at the inn. It was, uh, a sort of' I like being grade A, but how can I make it A+' type of improvement."

Yanase laughed at his backpedalling. It seemed that he knew how much the ryokan was the "Pride of Inaba."

I tried to talk to her before she left…but something came up and she was gone. I had asked my boss what she was doing there, which I had already explained to you."

"And so you decided to return to Inaba?" Yanase said.

"Not at first…but as time went on,I felt this drive…this DESIRE to return here. But I didn't do anything until about a month ago when the feeling was so intense that I HAD to drop everything and come out here." Charles shrugged in disbelief at himself.

"But then it wasn't until I got off the train that the gravity of the situation hit me. I left everything…my job, my family, my girlfriend who was cheating on me behind my back with her former sorority sister and was going to dump me anyway. I left all of it, just so I could tell a woman I loved… that I loved her."

"I felt stupid and bashful. I went to Junes after a couple of days at my hotel room in Okina, because I heard she would still hang out there…just like in the old days. I was trying to say out loud the words I wanted to tell her…how I felt without coming off as a stalker or an Amagi Challenger. That's when I saw Adachi. Once it dawned on me who he was…well…" Charles stopped and pointedly looked at Yanase.

"I see, Mr. Waldo. Well, we will try to follow up on this as best we can. Maybe he will show up at either of those places again." Yanase said this with polite formality.

"You don't believe me…" Charles said, crestfallen.

Yanase paused and then politely smiled and said, "Actually…I do. I can tell you're an honorable AND honest person… but if you had a picture, then we really could have had good confirmation. Don't feel bad… you have given us a lead…but it's up to fate to see if it's just a lead, or a good lead."

"Domo Arigato, Detective Yanase."

Charles then bowed and politely shook her hand again. He then nodded a goodbye to Dojima and the other detective.

Charles walked out of the police station.

He walked for a while before he ended up in the Shopping District.

Then he saw something…

…In the past.

He was walking 11 years earlier, getting used to Inaba. He then, in his memory, saw two girls. One had brown hair and was wearing green. The other had black hair and was wearing red.

"C'mon, Yukiko!" He mouthed, remembering the words as if it had been yesterday. "All right, Chie," He mouthed again.

He remembered looking at them for a couple of minutes and then turned around and walked away because he didn't want to look like a stalker.

…

_That was the last time I felt confident about her. But then…_

_…_

_How do you tell someone you love that you have dreamed about them since you were 7…without sounding creepy?_

Charles then thought about the dream. He had been very sad and hurt and he didn't know why. He had said he was worthless.

…

And then Yukiko rushed in and comforted him.

…

As the tears flowed down his cheeks, he mouthed the words in English spoken to him in the dream.

_"I love you, Charles Waldo. I will always love you. I will NEVER abandon you again."_

He realized he looked foolish and started to wipe the tears off and clean his glasses.

When he put them back on. He thought he saw her.

The woman was wearing a kimono and had long black hair.

She seemed to be looking for something…

Charles was turning around and was walking away…when he stopped…

_NO! Yu told me on that train ten years ago: "if more than one opportunity arrives…fate is telling you that you have to take a chance… as the reward may be worth the risk,"_ Charles thought.

He turned around and headed towards the woman.

_If it's Yukiko… Then I'll tell her straight out. EVERYTHING! If she rejects me…then so be it… I've had to live with hurt before._

_…_

_And if it's not Yukiko… then at least I've helped someone today in a way that will lead to a quick resolution_.

Charles reached the woman. "Excuse me, are you…?"


End file.
